Protective movable shutter and interlocking slat therefor



J. M. CORNELL.

PROTECTIVE MOVABLE SHUTTER AND INTERLOCKING SLAT THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3,1919.

1 ,3 67 ,240, Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

FWITNESSES INVENTOR QR 0Q. (3mm Q2 7 fi zj I 2/ 2 ATTORNEY UNITED STATESJOHN M. CORNELL, OF SEABRIGHT, NEW JERSEY.

PROTECTIVE MOVABLE SHUTTER AND INTERLOCKING SLAT THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed June 3, 1919. Serial No. 301,453.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. CORNELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Seabright, in the .county of Monmouth and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProtective Movable Shutters and Interlocking Slats Therefor, of whichthe followin is a specification.

he main objects of my invention are to provide a fire and burglarprotective shutter, curtain or door, composed of a plurality of slats,linked together at and along their abutting edges so as to form aflexible pivothinge oint therebetween, so as to form from the pluralityof more or less rigid slats so secured together, a shutter, curtain orsliding or rolling door of great flexibility, which may easily, and withgreatest ease and but little expenditure of power, be quickly shiftedfrom the visible protective door closing, to the concealed and dooropening position, where it will take up but little space, and viceversa.

This shutter, curtain or door, of my improved form shown, described andclaimed herein, has greater strength and greater rotective qualitiesagainst both fires and urglarious entry, is of greater wearingqualities, and less liable to distortion when subjected to great heat incase of fire, and simultaneously deluged with water, and the individualslats of which the same is made up of my new and improved form, havereater capability of resisting vertical bend ing or torsional strains,than any slats known in the prior art made of the same material ofequally light weight; and in addition such shutter has numerous otherdesirable capabilities and features.

My said invention is full shown, described and claimed in the followingspecification of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, whereinsimilar letters or numorals of reference designate like or equivalentparts wherever found throughout the several views, and in which,

Figure 1, is a front face view of the upper left hand portion of ashutter of my imroved form, showing three of my improved orm of slats,and part of another, linked together, with two combined securing andrunner-plates, also of my new and improved form attached thereto.

Fig. 2, is a side view, of the structure shown in Fig. 1 looking towardthe left in the direction of the arrow;

F igs. 3 and 4, are views similar to Fig. 2, showing two differentslightly modified forms of slats, from those shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

0 Fig. 5, is an end view of the upper port on of my said improved formof shutter, door or curtain, partially coiled upon its supportingactuating drum or roll, looking 1n the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6toward the right;

F 1g. 6, is a front view of Fig. 5, looking toward the left, a portionof the front wall being broken away.

Referring to the drawing:

The reference letter A, designates the individual slats, and B, thecombined slat securing and runner-plates, or lugs, one of which issecured at either end of each alternate slat, by rivets 11, by spotelectric or autogenous welding or in any other suitable way, such rivetspassing through the lugs 12 and 12' respectively and through the medialfiat side portions 13 and 13, or the welding being at the same points.

Separating the two medial flat side portions of the slat, and like suchportions 13 and 13, extending longitudinally the entire length thereof,on the front side is the groove 14, and on the other and rear face orside of the slat, the rearwardly extending tongue 15,which forconvenience of description, will be hereinafter named and referred to asthe lon itudinal groove-tongue stiffening member Formed on one of theedges of the slat and extending longitudinally thereof throughout itsentire length is an outer substantially cylindrical securing-coil 22,and on the other edge is an oppositely faced coil 23, of such lesserdiameter than the coil 22, as to slide easily into the coil 22 of theadjacent slat of like form, so as to form an easily working pivothinge-joint D therebetween, whereby a plurality of such slats being sosuccessively linked together may be built up into a shot ter of anydesired length.

The combined slat-securing and runnerplates B, which may be cast, dro-forged or otherwise formed of any suitab e metal or material, but arepreferably made of sheetsteel, are then secured at either end of eachalternate slat, in the manner before mentioned; the complete curtain forconvenience of attachment to the roller, being provided at the upper androller end with a slat having no attached runners, and for ease ofrunning provided at the other and bottom end with runners B; and wherethe shutter is not to be rolled upon a .roller the same is made up of anuneven and odd number of slats, each end slat having at either end arunner B.

Such part B has its securing-end plate 16 extending at a right angle tothe securinglugs 12 and 12', between which is located the open-endedcavity 17, to receive the tongue 15; and the end-plate 16 is roundedfrom front to rear as indicated at 18; is dished or cut away at thecentral back central portion and-projects at 18 far back beyond the backof'the pivot hinge-joint D, in such manner and to such extent that inactuating the door, by contact with the inner wall 21 of the slidegrooveof the door-frame, (Figs. 5 and 6) as they swing into contact therewiththrough the vibration of same, this will prevent contact therewith ofthe slats, while at the same time the enlarged heads of the rivets 11,will perform the same function as to the wall 20.

In Figs. 5 and 6, one of my improved shutters is shown partially rolledupon a drum or roller to partially open the doorway, and therein E,designates one of the roller support-end-brackets within which islocated a suitable journal (not shown) supporting one end of thedrum-shaft, supported at the other end in a like journal, and providedwith any suitable rotating mechanism, also not shown; while C,designates the drum or roller to which the end of the shutter is securedin any suitable manner, usually by bolts or screws; and 26, designatesthe hub of the end-plate secured to the roller in any desired mannerthrough which the shaft 27, which for sake of lightness is usually ofthe hollow form shown, passes.

In the two slightly modified forms of slats shown in Figs. 3 and 4:,they each differ from that shown in Fig. 1 in that instead of thelongitudinal groove-tongue stiffening-member being in cross section of asubstantially U or semi-circular form, they are each of a more V likeand greater elongated shape; the tongue 15, extending about twice thedistance toward the rear; and also that while in Fig. 2, the slatthroughout its entire width, including coils, groove-tongue and medialconnecting portions, is of the same thickness of material, in Fig. 3,the walls of the groove-tongue are much thinner than in Fig. 2, thusmaking the slat more capable of slightly bending along the longitudinalline of the groove; a feature very desirable under certain conditionsand for certain uses; while in Fig. 4, the groove-tongue F, has walls ofmuch greater thickness than any of the other portions of the slat; andalso that from such groove-tongue F, the metal or material graduallylessens in thickness, until at the coils they are of extreme thinness ascompared with the other portions thereof; and this gradual thinning ofthe metal of the medial portions and coils, may be combined with theforms of groove-tongues shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and each of theseseveral forms possesses different, but highly valuable qualities andcapabilities, for certain particular uses and purposes, under variousconditions, which I do not deem it necessary to more particularly setforth herein.

It will be seen (Figs. 2, 3 and 4:) that the medial upper flat-faceportion 13 of the slat flanking the groove-tongue F, is connected withthe outer large hinge-coil 22, by a substantially flat angle portion 22,while the lower like medial flat face portion 13, is connected with theinner smaller diametered coil 23, by a curved portion 522" that tofacilitate easy working upon the pivot-joint or hinge so formed they aremade to fit somewhat loosely together; and that a space is left betweenthe end of each coil and the adjacent abutting slat surface to permit offree play upon the hinge-joint without liability of disconnection exceptwhen the securing-runner plates 13, are removed and then only by slidingthem apart. And when such coils are made of the proper respectivedimensions, when in the extended and unrolled position shown in Figs. 1to 4, inclusive, they are locked at each pivot-joint against any furthermovement to the front, so as to form by such interlocking a practicallyrigid protective door when assailed from the outside.

While usually I. prefer to form my said improved protective shutter ofsheet steel, I do not limit myself to any particular material, nor evento metals; as for use in desks or cabinets the same may be formed ofwood, wood-pulp, or other material capable of being worked to form. Andfor ornamental as well as protective purposes for use in public andsemi-public buildings, such as courthouses, museums, libraries, andbanks, etc, the same may be formed of metals other than ferric, or ofmixtures or alloys, of any metals, such as bronzes, brasses, and otherlike alloys; many of which would be exceedingly useful for ornament; orin chemical works where iron or its compounds would be quickly destroyedby being brought into contact with disintegrating and corrosive dusts,liquids, vapors or gases.

\Vhile my improved shutter, curtain or door, may be used with either endas the top, it is preferable that the outer larger hinge-coils 22 shouldbe placed at the top. for if for any reason, heavy rainstorm, or fire,the same should be deluged exteriorly with water, the same would not runinto the hinge-joints by reason of the downward outward inclination ofthe inclined faces 22,

immediately below each of such hinge-joints D; whereas with its ositionreversed more or less water would e bound to enter between the inner andouter coils.

The slats A, of whatever metal etc., made, are of material of suchparticular (gage of thickness, and such qualities require by theconditions it will have to meet in use, as may be necessary; and arebrought to form, by any suitable process, or processes, tools ormachines, as may be necessary, such as pressing, rolling, die-drawing,roller-drawing, swaging, etc., or by a combination of a pluralitythereof; either while the stock is in a cold or heated state; and may,in many cases be cast in suitable molds.

In addition to stiffening the slat against bending on and along verticallines, the

roove-tongue F, when viewed from the ront and grooved side, has theappearance, at first glance, of having slats 0 only half the width itactually possesses, which adds greatly to the artistic efiect. And whilesuch groove-tongue as first formed is usually in almost the exact centerof the flat strip of stock, out of which the slat is being formed, whenfinished with the hinge-joint coils formed at its edges, as shown in thedrawing, it will be seen that such groovetongue F, is located muchnearer to the lower inner small coil 23, than it is to the outer largercoil 22.

But in the actual door, by reason of the lights and shadows at thepivot-joints and the groove 14, each slat seems to the eye to be two ofequal width; but while I prefer to form such groove-tongue closellyadjacent to the longitudinal center of the s at, it may be any distancefrom it; and may be even made by swaging, or rolling, or drop-for 'ng,of a zig-zag, waved, or beaded form; a l without departing from thebroad scope of my invention; as I do not intend to limit myself to an ofthe various forms shown, all which may e widely varied, in various wayswithout so departing therefrom.

I claim:

1. A slat for the purposes described, comprising an extending tonguestiffening-member located substantially at and along the central axis ofthe slat; and two integrally formed hinge-coils formed one on one edgeand one on the other, so as to leave a narrow s ace between the end ofthe coil and the abuttin slat surface, which is the op osite of the autting surface of the other 001 the outer diameter of one coil beinsubstantially that of the inner diameter 0% the other coil; and the slatbody thinning gradually away from a point adjacent to the tonestifi'enin -member to the ends of the coi s.

2. A s at for the purposes described, comprising a longitudinalgroove-ton e stiflening-member, located substantia y at and other, soformed as to along the central axis of the slat so as to form alongitudinal cavity or groove on one side, and thecoincident extendingtongue on the, other, the walls of the groove tongue being of adifferent thickness from that portion of the slat on either side savethat immediately connected therewith, and an integrally formedhinge-coil upon and alon either edge, one of the exterior diameter 0 theinterior diameter of the other, so formed as to leave a narrow s acebetween the end of the coil, and the abutting adjacent slat surfacewhich is the opposite of the abutting surface of the other coil.

3. A flexible protective shutter made u of a plurality of slats, eachcomprising a ongitudinal narrow roove-tongue stiffening: member locatedsu stantially at and along the central axis of the slat so as to form alon itudinal cavity or roove on one side, an a coincident exten ing tonue on the other; and an inte rally forme hin e-coil upon and along eiter edge, one of t e exterior diameter of the other, so formed as toleave a narrow space between the end edge of the coil and the abuttingslat surface, which is the opposite of that of the other coil; the outerdiameter of one coil bein substantially that of the inner diameter 0 theother, whereby a series may be successively interlocked; the walls ofthe movetongue converging at such an angle 0 acuteness that when thesame is viewed from the groove side or face it will appear to the eye tobe separated on the longitudinal line of such roove into two slats.

4. 1 flexible protective shutter made up of a plurality of slats, eachcomprising a longitudinal groove-tongue stiffen1ng-member locatedsubstantially at and along the central axis of the slat, so as to form alongitudinal groove or cavity on one side, and a coincident extendingtongue on the other; and an inte rally formed hinge-coil upon and alongelther edge, one of the exterior diameter of the interior diameter ofthe leave a narrow space between the end edge of the coil and theabutting slat surface which is the opposite of that of the other coil;the outer diameter of one coil being substantially that of the innerdiameter of the other, whereby a series may be successively interlocked;the material being thickest in the walls of the movetongue and thinningthence gradual y outward to the extreme ends of the coils.

Signed at the borough. of Manhattan, in the c1ty, count and State of NewYork, this 31st day of Mliy 1919.

JOHN M. CORNELL.

